Egyptians Ready To See Mubarak Put On TrialFormer Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to go on trial Wednesday — though it is uncertain whether the proceedings will begin as planned, or at all. Mubarak is charged with multiple crimes, including ordering the killing of protesters.

And I'm Michele Norris. The former president of Egypt is scheduled to go on trial tomorrow. Hosni Mubarak is charged with multiple crimes. They include corruption during his 30 years in power and ordering the killings of hundreds of anti-government protesters earlier this year. A guilty verdict could bring the death penalty. State television will broadcast the trial live. And as NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Cairo, the trial is sure to grip the nation, that is, if Mubarak actually appears in the courtroom.

MIKE SHUSTER: It is not absolutely certain that Mubarak's trial will begin tomorrow. His lawyer has been saying he is not well enough to be moved to Cairo from his hospital bed in the seaside resort of Sharm el Sheikh. There had been reports that he is too frail, that he has been refusing food, that he is too depressed to be moved. Certainly it is not difficult to find Egyptians who want to see him put on trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking foreign language)

SHUSTER: At a huge demonstration in Tahrir Square last week, the sentiment was overwhelming against Mubarak. One man who would identify himself only as Ashraf, a 41-year-old businessman, said of course he wants to see Mubarak in the dock.

ASHRAF: I think that we have to judge very quickly the old government, especially the president Hosni Mubarak.

SHUSTER: In Egyptian trials, defendants are often placed in a cage when they are brought to the courtroom. That's how Mubarak could very well be displayed to the world tomorrow, and it has been suggested that could enflame tensions in an already tense Egypt. Ahmad Sami, a 25-year-old pharmacist and activist for the Muslim Brotherhood, said so be it.

AHMAD SAMI: Yes, it might enflame political tension but I don't believe that Mubarak has real supporters in Egypt. They were just a group of robbers, and a group of businessmen who was just having a benefit with him. But now he's - he's gone.

SHUSTER: In fact it was nearly impossible to find anyone in that crowd who does not want to see Mubarak put on trial. It should have happened already was a common refrain. It's a crucial moment in the evolution of political change in Egypt, says Elijah Zarwan, a senior analyst of the International Crisis Group.

ELIJAH ZARWAN: I think for many people that I've spoken to, seeing Mubarak in the cage for the accused in the courtroom is very important on an emotional level to feel that the revolution has succeeded, that the previous regime will not come back, and to feel that the Egyptian people have succeeded in taking control of their own destiny.

SHUSTER: It is not yet clear how the prosecution intends to make its case against Mubarak. So far, no evidence has emerged publicly that demonstrates Mubarak actually ordered the security forces to fire on the protesters in the streets. Many Egyptians don't believe Mubarak's trial will actually be held. They think that it will be postponed at the last minute because the military leaders who are in charge of Egypt's government right now were essential players in the old regime, hardly eager says Elijah Zarwan, to see their old boss put on trial.

ZARWAN: Putting Mubarak on trial may have been a necessity because of the popular pressure from the state. It was certainly something that the military appeared not to want to do. The military wanted to let Mubarak retire with dignity.

SHUSTER: That's a commonly held view here. Hossam al Hamalawy, a journalist and activist, is convinced the generals don't really want to hold this trial.

HOSSAM AL HAMALAWY: If it was left for the generals and left for the transitional government, probably they would not have tried Mubarak at all and they would have waited patiently until he dies so as to get out of this awkward embarrassing situation for them.

SHUSTER: But, like many Egyptians, Hamalawy says the pressure coming from the streets and from various political parties and groups to try Mubarak now is irresistible.

AL HAMALAWY: At the end of the day, this is a political trial and I think the verdict will be settled in the streets, not inside the court cage.

SHUSTER: If the case is settled in the streets, there is little doubt about the verdict, say pharmacist Ahmad Sami and Nihel, a young housewife who preferred to use only her first name.

SAMI: He have to go to the court and he have to take a fair judgment and for the sake of the martyrs and for the sake of the injured. And so as to be also a threat for any other ruler or president who would rule this country.

NIHEL: Everyone who made a mistake has to pay the, the price yes. Has to pay the price.

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